Dear CC Alumni and Parents,

Block 1 has been an exciting beginning to the academic year! Already, we have greeted the incoming class, welcomed 154 fortunate juniors and seniors into the new East Campus housing project, expanded the college's mission and offerings with the addition of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, and reopened our reimagined Tutt Library.

I started off the year with my annual block of teaching. Co-teaching The Economics of Higher Education with my husband, Kevin Rask, is always an energizing reminder of the rigor and opportunity of the Block Plan and the talent of our students.

Welcoming the Class of 2021 to our student body, I imagine all the great things these future CC alumni will do for the world. At New Student Orientation, I encouraged the class - 531 members strong - to take advantage of this special interval to be fully absorbed in the life of the mind. I told them that these four years should be about "becoming your own person, struggling with what you think about important questions, understanding and developing your talents, pursuing interests that might reveal passions, and developing lifelong relationships with peers and mentors who will nurture you in difficult times and celebrate you in your successes."

The goal of CC's strategic plan, "Building on the Block," is to strengthen this transformative interval. The East Campus housing project features eight new apartment-style residences that open to a beautiful shared courtyard, anchored to the south with a west-facing community center. The development fosters a sense of community for upper-class students, and blends in seamlessly with the residential historic districts to the north and east.

The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College is building on the momentum of last year's strategic planning process as faculty and students are making the most of this exciting resource now that the alliance is official.New museum staff members have added programs that deepen our commitment to the arts and cultures of the Southwest. In Block 1, 320 students in 22 CC classes visited the museum. In addition, our Museum Free Days and JAM FAC attracted more than 2,000 visitors in the first two weeks of September.

The $45 million-dollar renovation of Tutt Library opened on the first day of classes. The building was immediately buzzing with students, creating the intellectual hub that we envisioned! With approximately 25,000 additional square feet, abundant natural light, and plenty of Western views, the building doubles the seating capacity even as it demonstrates CC's commitment to sustainability as the largest academic library in the country to achieve net-zero construction. The library is also on the cutting edge of technology, with a data visualization space, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) laboratory, and experimental classroom. Fittingly, we recently welcomed a new library director. JoAnn Jacoby was previously associate dean for user services at the University of Illinois Library.

This year, so many of our dreams for CC have come to fruition and I am confident that together we can do even more for the college in the years ahead. I look forward to seeing many of you around campus in October for Family & Friends Weekend and Homecoming.

Best regards,

President Jill Tiefenthaler